Reflections: School Days
by AlaskanFan
Summary: A filler for "Sudden Death" in which Lee and Amanda share memories of their school days


I created REFLECTIONS as a short story format to combine bits of personal history with episode fillers. There are enticing glimpses of Lee's past throughout the series but writing stories about Lee solo (before Amanda) just isn't much fun – thus, the blend of canon and memories in REFLECTIONS.

This is a filler for "Sudden Death" - Season 1

 **SCHOOL DAYS** – By AlaskanFan

The situation was not only frustrating, but humiliating as well. Lee Stetson, one of the top agents in the country, had been outmaneuvered at a bookie joint and gotten himself _and a civilian_ trapped in straight-jackets. He had to admit that it was a superbly effective restraint system. Too bad he couldn't carry one in his pocket like he could carry handcuffs. The slimy bookie and his hired muscle were finishing their arrangements and would soon leave him and Amanda alone in the office for the night.

The balding goon, named "Rasmussen" he remembered, entered the office and tossed a few tools in a filing cabinet with a noisy clang. "I got the phones disconnected, Marty."

"Good. We wouldn't want our guests to be disturbed by any late-night phone calls. Go get the kicker." Rasmussen left again and entered another room a short distance down the hall. Marty Price checked the red phone to confirm that there was no dial tone. "Wolf, you got that window secured, yet?"

The hairy one had been nailing boards across the window. "Sure, boss. This will hold a gorilla!" He lowered the blinds to cover his work and prevent outsiders from having a clear view of the room. With the blinds lowered and the extra wood slats, Lee wouldn't be able to kick anything through the window, nor throw himself through the glass to go get help.

Rasmussen returned with a firm grip on a defeated Bela Pravik, similarly attired in a straight-jacket.

Price puffed his cigar and then gestured towards Amanda, "We'll be back after the first kick-off. You can count on that, Honey. Nighty-night!"

"Please, my sincere apologies. I greatly regret the inconveniencing of you." Bela was remorseful and tired. His English was slurred and his shoulders slumped. His dreams of American success had turned into a nightmare.

Price locked the tiny office and the three sleazy characters noisily exited the building with a reluctant Bela. The lock on the front door turned with a loud "thunk," leaving the captives to their own devices.

"I'm not all at worried, no-sirree-Bob. I know that you are a professional – one of the top agents in the country. I'm confident that you have a plan and I'll be ready to cooperate with you – whatever you say! That's right. You just speak the word and I'll do it." Amanda's words stumbled to a halt as she saw Lee's face.

"The place is surrounded? Huh? Is that the best you could do? Blurt out that we're government agents? Thank God, they didn't believe you." The words built to a scathing crescendo. Lee regretted the words the minute he shouted them. She was frightened enough; scolding her didn't help. More quietly he griped, "No, Amanda, I don't have a plan." His arms moved to brush his hands through his hair. Being prevented from the familiar gesture only made him more angry. "Arrgh!" He kicked the file cabinet resentfully.

When he shouted, Amanda had turned her face away to hide the hurt in her eyes, but quickly looked back to see whether he had injured himself with the kick. She watched him pace sharply for several seconds. Three angry steps towards her, three stomps away; three steps towards her; three more away. "You're making me dizzy."

"Then, don't look!" he snapped. He stomped some more, but finally realized that he was being petty. He decided to try some humor. "We could pretend to play strip poker." They chuckled together and harmony was restored as easily as that.

"Can you work the buckles on this thing with your teeth?" Remembering his success in untying knots with his teeth, Amanda was hopeful that he could be as successful with these restraints. Several frustrating minutes were spent as they each tried to get a grip on the other's straps. Finally admitting defeat, Lee slumped into the desk chair and nearly lost his balance without having his arms available to steady himself as the chair rolled wildly to the right.

"We should at least check the phones to confirm that they really are disabled. Just one working telephone would solve the problem." Amanda had little expectation that a bookie who owned three straight-jackets had overlooked any details, but it was worth a try and they had plenty of time.

It took some teamwork, but eventually they had lifted the handset of each phone and proved the impossibility of calling for rescue. Amanda, true to character, was careful to cajole Lee into tidily hanging up each phone to maintain what little order there was in the dingy room. It took more time, but the night was still young. Using their elbows for leverage, they explored the room together as much as possible and eventually settled on the lumpy couch.

Faced with the grim reality that they had limited options, Amanda searched her mind for some distraction. "Tell me about your college football career."

Lee shook his head in amusement, "Career? Where did you hear that?"

"Francine said you had played football at many of the universities you were thrown out of, but maybe I misunderstood her," Amanda waffled.

"Francine," he rolled his eyes, "likes to exaggerate my checkered past. Don't believe everything she says about me. I only played football in my first semester at college. After that... I was encouraged to attend a different school." He paused as a memory unfolded in his mind. He chuckled as he remembered what it was like to be 18 years old and master of his world.

"Just before Christmas break, the Dean of Students bought a new car – a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Fastback. It was red with white pin striping outside and a black interior. He was crazy about it. It was the hottest thing on campus for about a week. I was sneaking back to my dorm from a date long after curfew and noticed his car parked beside the Auditorium. While no one was around, I decided to check it out more closely. The door was unlocked and I sat in the driver's seat, flipping switches and enjoying the new car smell."

He grinned as he remembered that crisp December night and the adrenaline rush of inspiration as the full plan emerged in a heartbeat. He marveled again at the contrast between the rapidity of thought and the laborious pace of language to describe all that coalesced in a nano-second. He leaned toward Amanda to include her in his excitement.

"From the car, I noticed that a basement window was open under the Auditorium, and suddenly I had this brilliant idea, "Wouldn't it be freaky to hide the car on the stage!" I'm telling you, Amanda, the details all came to me in a split second. I was wearing gloves due to the weather, so I had left no prints on the car. The window was open, so I could get inside the building. The girl I just left had a brother who was working night shift for a towing company. I couldn't resist. Well, honestly, I didn't even _try_ to resist." His mischievous grin was met by the sparkle in her eyes as she envisioned that swaggering college freshman launching a memorable prank.

"I jogged back out to the road and down to a pay phone beside the convenience store. I called my buddy with the tow truck then went back to campus and squeezed through the basement window. I had just made my way up the stairs and opened the double doors leading to the backstage hall when Greg arrived. He was driving a flatbed tow truck and the two of us pushed the car onto the lift. He backed the truck close to the double doors, lowered the car, and we pushed it directly to center stage and he left. I made sure the building was locked up, including the basement window, and snuck into my dorm without being noticed. Someone should have heard the noise, but maybe it was too cold or too late for anyone to be patrolling the grounds. Amazingly enough, it started snowing really hard just before I reached my dorm and we got at least 4 inches. I couldn't believe it! The snow covered our tracks."

Amanda's amusement erupted into laughter. Lacking the normal gestures of arms and hands, the friends focussed more intently on facial expressions. His cheeks dimpled and flexed in complex patterns. Her smile lit up even this grimy dump. His eyes twinkled with wit and piercing intelligence. Her eyes sparkled with kindness and affection. He couldn't have had a more appreciative audience.

"The next day, the dean was in a frenzy about his stolen car. I had perfected a poker face during the Colonel's rants, so it was no problem to play it real cool while Dr. Jordan had a spaz. It was after lunch before anyone entered the Auditorium and found the car. They couldn't prove I did it, but I was invited to switch to another college before the next term." The room rang with laughter.

"Oh, boy," gasped Amanda. "That beats all of my college pranks. I was a Kappa and the sisters would do silly things but nothing as spectacular as that."

"Okay, so it's your turn. Tell me about your best."

"Oh, my gosh. I can't remember anything that competes with your scheme. The dorms were divided into suites - two bedrooms joined by a bathroom, so four girls shared a shower, two sinks and a tiny toilet room. Sometimes when one girl was showering and the bathroom was steamy, another girl would fill a big cup with cold water – one of those giant plastic cups you'd get with an Icee, remember those? She'd stand on a step stool and pour the cold water down on the girl in the shower. There'd be a lot of squealing and taunts and threats of retaliation."

"You're kidding. That's what you consider a big prank?" Lee scoffed. He gently nudged her, shoulder to shoulder, in playful rebuke.

"Of course not. That was just a frequent practical joke among roommates." She bristled at his tone. Even as a child, she had always wanted to do "the right thing." She enjoyed being honest and cheerful, and she felt safe obeying the rules, but she _hated_ to be known as a goody-two-shoes. Unfortunately, she couldn't escape the goody-two-shoes reputation; it followed her through grade school, high school, and college. Her lack of stories of mischief was proof that she was really good at being _good_. "I remember one good prank. Running naked was rather popular at University of Virginia, even before it became known as streaking. The standard course was to start at the Rotunda, run the length of the lawn, kiss a statue of Homer the poet, run back up the lawn (that's about a quarter-mile, round trip), peer through the keyhole of the rotunda to say "good night" to the statue of Thomas Jefferson (the founder of the college) and _only then_ could you retrieve your clothes."

"Amanda King," Lee interrupted in mock reproach, "did you actually streak?" It was an enticing idea, but he thought it improbable.

"Oh, my gosh, NO! I always figured that I'd fall and hurt myself and have to go to the emergency room while I was still naked." Lee hooted with laughter at her indignant reply.

"Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity planned a communal streak in March as part of their Founder's Day celebration for noon on Monday. At 3:00 that morning, several Kappas Saran wrapped the statue of Homer. We used three step ladders and ten rolls of Saran wrap. I held one of the ladders. Under the final role of plastic wrap, we placed their Greek letters in the fraternity's colors of purple and gold right where they had to kiss the statue. The guys were thrilled and hosted the Kappas for a fancy social the next month."

"Two points for minor decorating prowess." Lee conceded. "Anything else?"

"Well, let me think. Obviously, I wasn't as daring as you are." Amanda frowned slightly, concentrating. Her eyebrows rose in glee with a sudden memory. "Once I went 'pooning' with a few other Kappas. That was a riot."

"Pooning?" Lee queried. Too late, Amanda realized that she would have to explain the gag.

"Well, that's um... you uh... take uh..." Amanda turned her face away to hide the blush flaming her cheeks. Lee leaned forward to watch the blush, intrigued and amused. "You take tampons, soak them in red jello until they are bloated and starting to jell, and fling them against a car to make it stick." She raced through her explanation, hoping that if she said it fast enough she might say it all without dying of embarrassment. She had never discussed feminine hygiene products with Joe, and she barely knew Lee. She regretted having been goaded into telling this story.

Lee guffawed with hearty laughter as Amanda recovered from her embarrassment and joined him. "One of the sisters had just been dumped by her boyfiend and we pooned _every inch_ of his Chevy. We had bars of soap with us and wrote Kappa slogans all over the car windows, too."

"Pfft, no finesse. Petty vandalism." Lee said, dismissively.

"Okay, Mr. Hot Shot, tell me your second biggest prank!" Amanda was stung by his teasing, but didn't have anything else to offer.

Lee said, "Kappa, huh? The Colonel pulled some strings and got me into another college over Christmas break. Since I wouldn't be playing football, I went through Fraternity Rush and pledged Sigma Chi. I, uh, was invited to leave that college before I could finish the pledge requirements and be initiated as a brother. But I did have outstanding achievements during my pledgeship. I had developed a minor hobby of breaking and entering, no doubt sparked by the success of the first prank with the car. Anyway, during the Greek Week competitions, I was the only fraternity guy who could get into the backdoor of the Kappa House in ten seconds flat. I think I still hold the record for fastest time on that event."

"You got kicked out of that one, too?"

"Yeah. That one isn't such a funny story. The Provost's daughter was, uh, well-developed, and I would have sworn that she was at least 18. She was a very precocious 15-year-old. I was lucky to get booted at the end of the semester, without doing jail time for that one."

"Sounds like a close call. How many universities did you attend?"

"Only three. You remember the agitation on college campuses about Vietnam and the resistence to the draft. I guess serving my country is in my DNA. It's sort of the family business. I got more and more angry at the cowards and protestors who loved safety more than they loved freedom. I wanted to finish college so that I could qualify for military intelligence, and I was afraid the war would be over before I could get involved. I took extra classes every semester including summer terms so that I could graduate early."

The conversation had turned serious and the reality of their situation sobered them further. "Hey, we should probably try to get some sleep," he suggested quietly. The mention of sleep evoked a huge yawn from Amanda.

"Yeah, I heard we tend to get killed less often that way," she answered, quoting him from their first night together, earning a smile of approval for her effort

"I can't get a blanket for you, but I could probably cover your feet with my jacket. You can lay your head on the arm of the couch and stretch out a bit. I'll take the chair."

Amanda was touched by his concern. "That would be nice; my feet are chilly." It was difficult to be graceful without using her arms for balance, but Amanda slithered down without banging her head on the armrest and pulled her legs up onto the couch.

The jacket was draped over the back of one of the office chairs. The straight-jacket was too warm with just his sweater underneath it, and Lee was glad he had thought to take off his jacket before being forced into the confining garment. Lee bumped the chair with his knees until it backed up to the couch and then leaned against the wall for balance as he used one foot to ease the jacket off the chair back and onto Amanda's legs. She used her feet to grip one edge of the jacket while he used his foot to spread the rest of the garment over her shins.

The task required various contortions and teamwork, and they shared a triumphal smile when they achieved their goal. Considering their circumstances, it was a good way to end the day.

 **THE END**


End file.
